Top headlines: India Inc coffers swell; Sebi eases rules on top exec roles

The ambition of turning into a $350-billion industry by 2026 appears to be achievable for the Indian IT sector. More on that story in top headlines.

India's market regualtor eases up and says companies may voluntarily separate roles chairperson and managing director/chief executive officer. More on that story in our top headlines.

Sebi makes separation of Chairman, MD posts voluntary 

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday made it voluntary for India Inc to have a separate chairperson and managing director (MD)/chief executive officer (CEO). The move comes weeks ahead of the April 1, 2022 deadline by which the top 500 listed companies by market value had to install two separate, and unrelated, persons as chairman and MD/CEO. Read more
 

Need more probe into NSE 'puppet master': Corporate governance experts

Corporate governance experts have called for further investigation into the matter involving former National Stock Exchange (NSE) managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) Chitra Ramkrishna for sharing confidential information about the exchange with her faceless spiritual guru who has been referred to as ‘unknown man’ and ‘Himalayan yogi’ in the 190-page order issued on Friday. Read more
 

India Inc's profit rises 27% in third quarter

India Inc continued its good showing in the December 2021 quarter with combined net profits of 3,191 listed companies in the Business Standard sample up 26.9 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) and their net sales increasing 24 per cent.

As in the previous quarter, growth in earnings was led by cyclical sectors such as banks, non-banking financial companies and insurance (BFSI); metals and mining companies; and oil and gas producers while manufacturers struggled with higher input costs, lower margins, and sub-par revenue growth. Read more
 

IT industry on the road to take $350 bn in revenue

The ambition of turning into a $350-billion industry by 2026 appears to be achievable for the Indian IT sector as it is set to clock a revenue of $227 billion for FY22, according to industry grouping Nasscom.

For FY22, the industry is likely to add $30 billion of incremental revenue, taking the overall growth rate to 15.5 per cent -- the fastest in 11 years. For the IT industry to reach $350 billion by 2026, it will have to maintain growth in the range of 11-14 per cent, Nasscom said. Read more

LIC appears to be ill-equipped to handle new dynamics

The risks emerging for LIC, from which the government plans to sell 5 per cent of its stake, are that its strengths do not address the expanding opportunities in the Indian insurance sector. The brand LIC may have been recognised as the third strongest and the 10th most valuable global insurance brand in 2021 by Brand Finance but millennials, the biggest buyers of insurance, are looking elsewhere. A reading of the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) of India’s largest life insurance company with a market share of 64.1 per cent gross written premium (GWP) is, therefore, somewhat worrying. Read more